Our path is a sustainable development, implementation of innovative solutions in management and production processes, continuous movement and ongoing improvement. This path led us to the leadership in 2010 and we have retained our leadership positions since then. Yet, we do not stop even for a minute: we think, predict and plan. The step of our planning is 5-10 years. This is the only option for a pharmaceutical company manufacturing generic drugs, as it takes about 4-6 years to develop a drug.
As the leader of the pharmaceutical market, Farmak constantly introduces innovations in production and management processes.
In a short time, Farmak has transformed from a chemical and technical plant into an innovative company. We were able to build European production in Ukraine, manufacturing medicines of the European level for our market and for more than 20 countries of Europe and the CIS. These are the same drugs from the same batches. Today, Farmak is 7 hectares of concentrated innovations that represent the arsenal of the modern pharmaceutical industry! We do not only track innovations – we localize and adapt them here, in Ukraine, at our own production facilities. The company has evolved from a production site to a technological cluster concentrating key innovative technologies and production. The characteristic feature of Farmak is that we do not only keep an eye on innovations, but also localize and adapt them here, in Ukraine, in our own production.
Since 1995, Farmak JSC has invested more than $ 239 million in upgrades and innovations. Since 2017, Farmak’s investments in development and modernization totaled UAH 486 million. In 2018, we plan increasing our investments by more than one third vs. 2017 – to UAH 638 million. The project “Solid Drug Products 2” will remain the key for this year. After its commissioning, total capacities manufacturing tablet drugs should be doubled: up to 3 billion dosage units per year. The company will also continue investing in upgrades and re-equipment of active production facilities, information technology, laboratories of the quality control department and biotechnology laboratory. We pay special attention to the development of new drug products. This year, we intend to spend UAH 290 million on research and development. In total, the company has more than 10 serious capital investment projects at different stages of implementation.
Speaking about the priority of biotechnologies in medicine and pharmaceutics, Farmak will continue developing its biotechnological direction. At the time, the company has equipped a biotechnological laboratory that allows simulating the process of obtaining an active substance – the main component of a drug product that has therapeutic properties. The amount of investment in this project is UAH 60 million.
We are building up our competencies in the biotechnology area and are actively working on obtaining our own genetically engineered proteins for therapeutic purposes. We plan to comprehensively characterize these substances and manufacture finished dosage forms from them; carry out preclinical and clinical studies. After that, we will be able to talk about construction of a biotechnological production facility. This is a prospect for 5 years to say the least.
Today, it is important to cooperate with modern scientific centers. Thus, since 2017, Farmak has taken part in the Horizon 2020 program and involved in VAHVISTUS and ORBIS projects in Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE). This is a unique opportunity to take a look at new developments of scientific laboratories of the EU countries.
Jointly with the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Department of Chemistry of the University of Helsinki (Finland), the Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, Pozzuoli (Naples, Italy), Farmak has created the VAHVISTUS consortium. Among its partners also are the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA, Brazil), Ibn-Tofail University (Kenitra, Morocco) and the University of Florida (Gainesville, USA). The ORBIS Consortium, in addition to Farmak, includes the University of Poznan (Poland), the University of Warsaw (Poland), the University of New Jersey (USA), the University of Dublin, in particular the Trinity College (Ireland), the Department of Pharmacy of the University of Helsinki (Finland). Among industrial partners of the consortium are Zentiva pharmaceutical company (headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic) and Applaid Process Consulting (Ireland).
Farmak also cooperates with all field-specific higher education institutions in Ukraine. Today, Farmak employs 35 candidates and doctors of science.
The strategic goal of the company is to increase Farmak’s presence on the European market. By 2020, we plan to increase the share of exports to 40%. We are contemplating a possibility of acquiring a pharmaceutical company in Europe. Poland was the first step; now we are considering other countries as well.
